Large Japanese Imari Phoenix & Floral Porcelain Charger, c. 1920s–1930s

The Piece

Nearly eighteen inches across, this Japanese porcelain charger is organized as a sequence of brilliantly colored panels radiating from a densely decorated central medallion. Cobalt blue provides the architecture: deep triangular reserves divide alternating panels of flowering branches, latticework, and stylized birds, while iron red, orange, turquoise green, gray, and touches of gilt move continuously across the white porcelain ground.

Four large bird medallions interrupt the border, each containing a long-tailed hō-ō or phoenix-like bird rendered in iron red and gold against cobalt reserves. Between them, flowering branches unfold across shaped white panels with peony-like blossoms, foliage, and delicate linear details. Crosshatched geometric borders in red and green give the composition another layer of movement before the eye reaches the central roundel, where cobalt foliage and multicolored blossoms are enclosed within successive blue-and-white and iron-red borders.

The reverse is considerably quieter but no less useful in identifying the piece. Three underglaze cobalt decorative motifs appear around the underside, accompanied by concentric blue rings and an older paper “MADE IN JAPAN” export label. Several small firing or kiln-support marks remain visible beneath the glaze, evidence of its manufacture rather than later damage.

The charger belongs to the long tradition of Japanese Imari export porcelain, named for the port through which wares from the Arita region historically reached international markets. Its characteristic palette of underglaze cobalt combined with iron-red enamel, green, orange, and gilding became one of the most recognizable forms of Japanese decorative porcelain in Western interiors.

An older dealer label attached to the face describes the piece as a “Very old Imari Charger,” approximately 18 inches in diameter, and dates it to the late 1800s. The surviving “Made in Japan” paper export label on the reverse, however, argues for a more conservative early-20th-century dating. Until a specific workshop or mark can be conclusively identified, we date the charger to approximately the 1920s–1930s, while recognizing that its decoration draws heavily from earlier Meiji-period Imari traditions.

The underside also carries hand-painted cobalt motifs rather than a clearly legible factory backstamp. No specific maker attribution is presently assigned.

Product Details

|Field                 |Detail                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|----------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Object                |Large decorative charger / presentation plate                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|Maker                 |Unidentified Japanese workshop                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|Ware                  |Japanese Imari / Arita-style export porcelain                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|Marks                 |Older paper “Made in Japan” export label; hand-painted cobalt motifs to reverse                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|Style                 |Traditional Japanese Imari                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|Materials             |Porcelain, underglaze cobalt, polychrome enamels, gilt                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|Technique             |Glazed porcelain with underglaze blue and overglaze enamel and gilt decoration                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|Decoration            |Hō-ō / phoenix-like birds, flowering branches, peonies, geometric latticework, cobalt reserves                                                                                                                                                                      |
|Form                  |Large circular charger with shallow well and broad decorated rim                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|Colors                |Cobalt blue, iron red, orange, turquoise green, gray, white, and gold                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|Origin                |Japan                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|Era                   |c. 1920s–1930s                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|Dimensions            |Approx. 18″ diameter                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|Condition             |Good antique condition with expected surface wear, scattered light scratching, rubbing and losses to portions of the gilt and enamel decoration, minor firing irregularities, and visible kiln-support marks to the reverse. No major structural losses are evident.|
|Availability          |One of a Kind — 1 Available                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |

Why It Belongs in Your Home

At eighteen inches across, this does not behave like an ordinary plate. It has the visual weight of a painting.

Displayed upright on a console, centered over a mantel, mounted within a gallery wall, or laid flat across a substantial table, the charger brings an entire room into focus. The cobalt gives it depth, the iron red supplies warmth, and the flashes of turquoise and gold prevent the elaborate pattern from ever becoming static.

Its greatest strength is the density of the decoration. There is always another detail waiting several inches farther in: a bird disappearing into cobalt, a tiny gilded feather, a lattice changing direction, another flower opening between borders. It rewards proximity without losing its impact from across the room.

For an interior built from old wood, textiles, brass, blue-and-white porcelain, and collected objects, this is the sort of piece that feels less like decoration added afterward and more like something the room grew around.